My Life

By Babe

A story about growing up poor
in Bristol, RI during the Great Depression,
a daughter of poor Sicilian
immigrants. Its a story of family,
of love, and of simple
things. Its my story ...my life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781479762194

Book preview

© 2013 by Babe.

ISBN:      Softcover        978-1-4797-6218-7

                eBook            978-1-4797-6219-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 06/16/2016

Xlibris

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Contents

Preface

In The Beginning

Hard Times

Siblings, Nieces And Nephews

Angelo

My Cousin Sam

The Italian Way

The Patron Saint

The Black Madonna

Vendors Of Long Ago

A Ride To The Shore

Sam The Pizza Man

The Church

History In Bristol

The Chief Of Police

The Canazaro’s And The Neighborhood

Guisty’s

The Damico Family

The Arico Family

History

The Antique Store

House On Franklin Street

Walking To School

Tony

Our Marriage-Mike & Phoebe

Phoebe And Mike’s Marriage

My Dad

Our First Apartment

My Children

My Husband

My Work Life

Retirement

Florida

History Of The Franklin Street House

Trips (Just The Girls)

Trip To Italy

Hawaii

Acapulco

Portugal

The Player Piano

Organ Lessons

A Visit From Greg And Alis

Mike’s Illness

A People Person

La Vigilia

Meeting Eddy

Dancing

The Senior Citizen Prom

Traveling With Eddy

Mark’s 50Th Birthday

Poems And Stories I Like

Ante Up By Louise

My God

Could You Believe?

My 80Th Birthday

Frosty Soda Factory

Eddy, Sr.

Embellishment

Trip To California

Writing This Book

The Passing Of My Sister, Helen

PREFACE

I wrote this book only because I have always wanted to write a book. Not thinking it would be about my life or anything about me.

Now I’m saying what a better subject to have is about the person you know best.

While I was Writing would remember things I had forgotten that happened in my life

It is not hard to write a book about a subject you know best about.

My life has changed so much from when I was born to now. The world has changed also

I am not sure it is for the best.

I hope you enjoy reading MY LIFE Noting how things were as today.

Sincerely your author BABE

For my parents, John and Santa,

who started it all.

I wanted to write this book to record the names,

dates, and events that I remember of my family for my

sons who don’t know what my life was like or who is

related to them. Time is marching on and there is no one

left in the previous generations to ask.

Per tutta la famiglia mia e gli amici, ti amo oggi,

domani, e sempre.

For all my family and friends, I love you today,

tomorrow, and always.

IN THE BEGINNING

My parents John and Santa came to this country from Sicily. They both came at different times. They were both from the county of Mascena. They immigrated to this country with their families. My dad came with two brothers Frank and Andrew. They left their mother and father a sister and a brother. The brother died in the Italian War. My father settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. My mother came to this country with her mom and dad and about five siblings. There were two boys and four girls. The boys were Frank and Joseph, The girls were Carmella, Mary, Nancy, (in Italian is Nunciata) and Santa my mother. They settled in Bristol, Rhode Island on State Street. One of the brothers’ ran the store across the street when he was older.

John and Santa married. They lived upstairs from her parents. The parents both had sugar Diabetes. And needed her help. All my mother’s siblings were all married and had children of their own. The families were very close they visited often.

Both of my Russo Grandparents died the same year but not at the same time. I never knew them. My mother told me they had the wake in the house on State Street. Family members and friends would stay up all night with the body. The Priest would come to the house to pray over the body. The next morning, the body was taken to the church for the funeral mass and then to Saint Mary’s cemetery, in Bristol.

HARD TIMES

My parents had four of their children while living in a little house on State Street, including me who was born on December 29. A midwife came to my mother when it was time to deliver. My mother told me this is how it was done in those days. This was a very popular practice. I guess it was cheaper than going to the hospital and they did not have Transportation. Mom said they would wrap the baby in a blanket so tight like a mummy. They did that so the baby would grow straight and tall. Babies were not to be taken out of the house until they were baptized at the church.

We moved to a house on John Street for a very short time. Then to Catherine Street by then my mom had seven children. When Johnny was born he was a preemie, my mom would put him in a box, put it close to the stove to keep him warm, put some sticks across a box with the baby in it make like a teepee and put a wet cloth on the sticks this was a reasonable facsimile of an incubator. He grew up to be the most aggressive one of us all. Someone gave my dad a radio it was during the depression. In those days you could pay for services rendered with things other than money. If the doctor came to your house you would give him a chicken or something he could use.

Our relatives would come to the house to listen to the radio, about the coming war.

We had a coal stove in the kitchen and it would heat the house. There was a bedroom on the first floor that was for my parents and the baby that was at the time. I remember all the kids in the family would sleep in the attic when we had to go to sleep we would pick up our coats and bring them up with us to have some extra warmth. The Coal stove was great in the winter time to warm your feet after playing outside in the cold.

My mother walked to work and back and always left a stew or soup for our supper. My oldest sister Josephine had to go straight home from school and take care of us younger kids.

We had to play outside rain or shine. In the winter time when Josephine cleaned the house and washed the floor, we had to play outside; she would not let us in the house. Boy, was it cold!

My mother worked the three to eleven shifts at Collins & Aikman Co. She worked in the heavy drawing room. She worked their twenty-five years. There was not any pension like they have today. They had no benefits at all. Every time she had a baby she would return to work in a very short time.

1.jpg

My parents, John and Santa, pose with five of their children.

Angelo is on the left: Cornelius Kelly is wearing a suit; I’m standing in front of him: Helen is on our mother’s lap and Josephine is standing on the right. Our brother Johnny and sisters Delores and Lucille were born a couple of years later.

Lucille.jpg

Lucille on Franklin St.

SIBLINGS, NIECES AND NEPHEWS

The oldest child in our family was Cornelius. Kelly was his nickname. He married Rose, she was from Barrington Rhode Island. She was a beautiful person. They lived in Bristol, my brother and my father built the house they lived in. They adopted a first child his name was David he was a baby. After a while they adopted a baby girl, her name was Lori. David was born September 18, and Lori was born August 9, David is a carpenter like his father, Lori is a caretaker for the elderly and sick people.

Josephine was next. She was the caretaker for all of us younger kids while my mother worked second shift at Collins and Aikman. Josephine married Curt, He was in the Navy, he later became a chief. They had three children, Curtis John, Patricia, and Susan.

Josephine died. After a while Curt married Maria of Barrington. We always include them when we have a get together. Maria is a wonderful person. My brother-in-law Curt Passed on.

Next Born was Angelo, married